Shopify SEO Tips
Shopify SEO can be complex. This page of Shopify SEO tips has been published to give you some basic guidance to avoid pitfalls. It covers elements that can be applied retrospectively if your store is already live. You may already be aware of some of them and their impact on Google (and Bing) search. However, if you’re struggling for rankings, they’re all items you should pay attention to.
Shopify SEO tips won’t necessarily get you the No.1 spot on Google
SEO is a long-term strategy. Nobody should promise to get you any ranking position on Google. Applying the SEO tips from this page doesn’t mean you fly up Google and cement that top position. They’re just a small selection of SEO tips designed to get you thinking about the way Google and other search engines view your store. If you discover that you’ve not adhered to most of the guidance, you should consider a Shopify SEO audit. All of the Shopify SEO tips I have provided are reasonably basic and easy to implement.
Store Title & Description
From your main Shopify dashboard, go to Online Store and then to Preferences.
At the top of this section you’ll find “Title and meta description”.
Firstly, ensure that both fields are completed.
However, you should ignore guidance from Shopify in respect of the amount of characters to use.
Shopify state that you can use up to 70 characters in the Title field – ignore it and use between 55-60 characters.
Secondly, ignore their stated maximum length of 320 characters for the Description field – keep this to between 150-160 characters.
Product Descriptions
Plan what you’re going to write when it comes to product descriptions.
Shopify offers an AI tool for product descriptions that generates text for you, but you should use this with caution. Google doesn’t respond well to the over-use of AI generated text.
If you’re struggling to write your descriptions, use the AI tool to give you ideas but please don’t trust what it writes completely.
Think of the words you want your product to be found for in Google (and other) searches and use them in your description.
Product descriptions are incredibly important beyond search visibility – they help you convert visitors into customers.
Product Photography
I have seen countless Shopify stores where there is on obvious problem – the quality of their product photographs.
If you can afford professional photography, I strongly advise that you opt for it.
I also recommend that you look at the portfolio of online store product photographs that the photographer has taken – because a good photographer isn’t necessarily the right product photographer. There is a subtle art to the process.
You should also name your product image files accurately and using keywords appropriate to them, and then ensure you complete the ALT tag field with a good description (but reasonably short) of the product.
Page Headers
Page headers are the text you place above body paragraphs.
For example, what you’re reading now is body text and the header is “Page Headers” in bold text above it. Headers are incredibly important to Google, particularly in light of recent Google Core Updates.
They want to see a solid and understandable page structure in which headers are appropriately used to summarise the content of the body text below them.
Page headers have an importance number too, such as H1, H2, H3, H4 etc., where H1 is the first header, H2 is within the content below H1 (usually) and so on.
Shopify gives limited dashboard controls over the choice of H1, H2, H3 and other headers, but you can overcome this by reading a blog I’ve written about changing Shopify headers.
Page Text (Body Text)
When you’re writing text on Shopify pages, such as on an About Us page, plan your choice of text carefully.
Think of your keyword and phrases that you want to be found for in Google searches, but don’t fall for advice that tells you to “stuff” your page with those words (i.e. don’t over-use them).
You should be using your keywords and target phrases in Page Headers too.
Be wary of publishing pages with small amounts of text on them. Google doesn’t have a ‘minimum’ amount of text for indexing a page (a common misconception), but I’d advise that you try to achieve at least 500 words per page, and ideally over 1,200 words.
Ultimately, it is the quality of the content that matters.
Frequent New Content
Google likes content, and if you leave your store content the same for a long period of time you’ll inevitably suffer in terms of Google search ranking positions.
It is very common for Shopify store owners to say they don’t have the time to update or add content.
Unfortunately, if that’s the case, you can’t expect to make a huge amount of progress with your visibility.
You might benefit from increased rankings that come through what are known are ‘backlinks’, but even they will depreciate in their impact over time.
I strongly recommend that you publish a blog with news and content that your target audience will want to read.
Make sure that your content is original and high-value. Don’t be tempted to use AI generated content or regurgitated content from other websites.
Shopify SEO tips get you started, but do you have an SEO strategy?
The Shopify SEO tips above give you an indication of the type of thing you should be paying attention to. If they’ve stirred thought or given you an insight about what Google looks for, then you’ve had value from them and can begin thinking about a more strategic approach to SEO.
Keywords & Phrases
Most businesses don’t pay sufficient attention to the keywords and phrases they want to target on Google search.
If you’re currently thinking “we do”, then you might be surprised at how much is left to reveal for even the most commercially minded companies.
Don’t just target short keyphrases. There is a lot of volume of traffic missed by many sites for what are known as “longtail searches” where the user types much longer searches.
These might reference product colour, a specific size, or, very commonly, use a different phraseology to that which your store does.
Not everyone refers to products with the same words and phrases that manufacturers or retailers do.
Visitor Journey
Have you ever considered how visitors actually make their journey through your site once they’ve found it?
Companies often did internal-only testing of their site, and that gives a completely unrealistic level of feedback about how your website performs.
The general public surprise all businesses with how they behave on websites – they’ll rarely do what you think they will!
Consider using testing tools such as HotJar to investigate the visitor journey, where they click, where they move their mouse to and much more.
By knowing how far down a page they scroll can give a different perspective on how a site should be designed, as can seeing why visitors navigate around your site in a way you don’t expect.
Measuring Performance
Tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console are valuable.
If you’re entirely reliant on the in-built Shopify Analytics data, you’re not seeing the full story.
Measuring your website performance, in terms of how Google views it, is critical to maximising your potential visibility.
It allows you to correct any issues, be made aware of warning, and can provide insights on not just visitor behaviour but also those that don’t visit.
For example, Google Search Console will show you keywords for which you’ve had ‘impressions’ in Google Search results (SERPS) but the user hasn’t clicked on your link.
It will also allow you to ‘submit’ new pages for indexing.
If my Shopify SEO tips have got you thinking, my full Shopify SEO service is far more in-depth.
Hopefully, you’ll have got some food for thought from the Shopify SEO tips. However, they’re very much the basics in respect of SEO and my full Shopify SEO service goes to very different levels of complexity, research, strategy and implementation. I offer a free and no-obligation initial consultation if you’d like to speak to me about how I can help transform your Shopify store visibility or conversion rate. In addition to my SEO skills, you’re assured of the following:
- A drive to deliver the best visibility possible for you
- I want to understand your business and products
- Crystal clear pricing and invoicing
- You’ll only ever speak directly to me
- I don’t work with competitors in your sector
- Constant updating of my skill set and knowledge
- Vast experience of coding, spanning over 40 years
- Experienced commercial operator at senior level
- Timely and courteous response to emails and calls
- Flexible working approach and customer service
